Pierre Garcon “Being on the front line,making things happen is more important to me than just writing a check”

In the mist of everything going on with the Dominican Republic and Haiti, On Tuesday, USA Today published an interview with Haitian-American football player and friend of L’union Suite Blog Pierre Garcon. USA Today did not ask Garcon about the deportation news but the interview reflected on Garcon’s 2010 trip to Haiti, his chartity work, his feelings about the Jack Warner story ,the love he has for his country and Haitian people and more.

On the day before the start of the Redskins minicamp, Pierre Garcon is lost in memories from five years ago.

Sitting in his new restaurant, the receiver stares at a picture on his iPhone 4 taken when he visited Haiti just three months after the Caribbean island was rocked by a devastating 7.0 earthquake. The picture shows a concrete wall with the number 24 spray-painted on it.

“That’s how they assume how many bodies are in there,” Garcon said on Monday. ” …That’s probably one of the hardest things to see because it’s just innocent people.”

To the left of the circled number is another painted message. “We still need HELP.”

Garcon, born on a farm of cornfields in upstate New York but of Haitian descent, knows this message is still relevant even now in 2015. He originally founded the Pierre Garcon Helping Hands Foundation to provide his countrymen with a little bit of help after the earthquake took the lives of over 230,000 people and over a million living in tents.

But Garcon also realizes this mission is a difficult one. Especially when money donated to the rebuilding of the Haiti sometimes never makes it to Haiti.

Garcon said he wasn’t surprised when he heard reports that Jack Warner, the former FIFA vice-president, had $750,000 of FIFA and Korean Football Association funds intended for Haiti earthquake funds diverted into accounts he controlled.

“If they can find a way to hide it, they definitely will,” Garcon said. “And that goes on not just in FIFA, not just in sports but in everything. Sadly, it’s human nature. That’s how some people get ahead and that’s how they stay ahead.

“It’s tough to see that happen with FIFA but for [Haitians], it doesn’t surprise us because we’re used to it.”

Garcon knows the Warner case is not a unique one. He said there is constant corruption when it comes to help in Haiti and it has inspired him to have his hands on everything he pursues — whether it be footballs, his “Spinfire” pizza restaurants, or his foundation. Instead of just signing checks for charity groups, Garcon has physically helped rebuilding an orphanage in Northwest Haiti and a school near Port au Prince.

“If I’m the head of something and somebody else is doing something wrong, I’m going to get in trouble for it, not the other person,” the 28-year-old said.

This is why Garcon hasn’t made it to Haiti yet this year. He said that since most of his attention has been on helping in the rebuilding of the Redskins, he doesn’t feel comfortable launching a project and not knowing where the money might be going. Especially with ongoing headlines of corruption.

“I’m 28 now and for (Haiti) to still be in the same state it is, you know something has to be wrong,” Garcon said. “We’ve gotten used to it so that’s why doing it in person, being on the front line, making things happen and making sure it’s done the right way, it’s more important to me than just writing a check.”

Garcon’s agent, Brad Cicala, said the player is unique in that he always participates in the hard labor involved with charity.

“He himself has gone down and in some way has always put forward some kind of physical effort,” Cicala said. ” …His donation of time and effort and spirituality to the cause way exceeds anything he can do financially.” – Continue Reading Here